NOOT NOOT!
The Blueprint Update is finally here. It took some time, but we think that all the improvements have been worth it. With over 100 new quests, remade maps, a lot of new and changed mechanics, there will be 1-2 hours of gameplay per map if you just go for completion.
While the name may indicate that it's all about the new Blueprints, it's actually a whole lot more. We've redesigned and remade a lot of things to be future-proof, so things will go much smoother for the future updates :)
Well, what's new then?
Major Additions
- The New Blueprint System
- 100 new quests/puzzles spread across 11 of the game's levels,
- A new armor system for enemies featuring body and helmet armor
- A new Respawn system that allows players to die as much as they want, at the cost of 5% earnings lost per death (up to 50% lost earnings)
- A new Ammo Cache system that allows players to restock ammo during heists at ammo caches
- Stationary turrets
- Explodable walls
- Massive overhauls of all levels, with most levels getting double the playable area (to accommodate the insane amount of new content)
- Completely remade The Nile's heist section
- Completely redone lighting for all levels
- Groundwork laid for full-fledged lore (featuring faction dynamics, conspiracies, and fish)
- Significantly better controller support
- New store systems and new store type called the Library which sells blueprint hints (and soon Lore documents)
- Massive optimizations for GPU and CPU
- An overhaul of the Pongie Survival mode with new Pongie types
- An overhaul of all the major "bosses" (example: Hsif in the Cathedral) with actual telegraphed boss moves (such as a very cool laser blast move)
- Changed AI for civilians; they now respond to violence
- Multiple new sound effects
- Multiple new songs
Smaller Additions and Fixes
- Lockpicking takes time
- Radial UI bar for items that take time to use
- Changed exfiltration for Playa del Sol, Et tu Bingus, Pumpkin Harvest, and Dark Castle to be more logical
- Changed all in-game "interactions" to be triggered by button presses, as opposed to just "touching" things
- Complete rebalance of item pricing, with most item prices having been lowered to reduce grind
- Multiple bug fixes for all kinds of bugs
This list does not cover everything, but quite a bit of what we've done. A lot has been done "under the hood", so it's nothing you see directly, but you will probably feel it while playing the game.
The coming month we'll be focusing on fixing bugs and adding music that didn't really make it in this update. There will be some updates to UI and sound effects as well, but right now we want to focus on cleaning up the game for next year, when we'll be adding everything from the Post Office (with a lot of special items), several new maps, remade clothing, village builder, perks, and so on.
Also, Penguin Heist has gotten an official plushie, which we will announce here today. Until then, we hope you'll enjoy the update! :)
Stay safe, and noot like you've never nooted before!